


Peace Negotiations

by bell (bellaboo)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 18:59:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5551592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaboo/pseuds/bell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A colony of Wraith want peace, but the Lanteans don’t believe them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peace Negotiations

**Author's Note:**

> sword_chucks gave the fic a look-over and bironic provided a mighty beta; if any mistakes or stupidities remain, it’s my own fault.

**I.**   
  
It was a new world, one warmer and brighter than any they’d been on before.  
  
Teyla had no more than stepped through the Stargate before she stopped. “We should not be here,” she declared, looking around at the high grasses. “This planet is crawling with Wraith.”  
  
John and Ronon went into attack mode, seeking enemies to shoot, while Rodney turned to punch in Atlantis’ gate code. Teyla, however, had more to say: “Wait-- they are not like any Wraith I’ve encountered before. They are _peaceful_ ,” she said, bewildered.   
  
“No such thing,” Ronon contested, scanning the region for lurking Wraith.   
  
“I’m with him,” Rodney was quick to assert. “Maybe their idea of ‘peaceful’ is to put us to sleep before eating us, and I don’t particularly care to find out.”  
  
“They-- they know that we are here,” she said slowly. “They welcome us.”  
  
“For dinner, sure,” Rodney muttered. “All those in favor of leaving before they eat us, raise your hands!” When no hands went up, Rodney said, “Hey! Are you _crazy_?”  
  
“I trust her,” John said. “Any more details, Teyla?”  
  
“They are not hungry,” she said, staring off into space. “They have not participated in a culling for many, many years.”  
  
“They’re tricking you,” Ronon said.   
  
“No--“ she shook her head. “I am certain that this is the truth.”  
  
“Good enough for me,” John said. “We’re checking it out.”  
  
“What--?” Rodney whined. “But they probably miss human meat! We’ll be walking straight into their pot! Metaphorically speaking.”  
  
“Well,” John said, grinning, giving away the fact that he already knew he had the upper hand, “I realize it’s a lot to ask, so-- if you want, you can head back.”  
  
Put like that, it was a dare.  
  
“You play dirty,” Rodney complained.   
  
“It’s a bad idea,” Ronon warned. “You can’t trust a Wraith, not ever.”  
  
“Then prepare yourselves,” Teyla said, her eyes glossing over again. “For one approaches us.”  
  
  
 **II.**   
  
Right after Teyla’s statement, Rodney’s detector picked up the presence of another live being nearby. While he muttered about how ridiculous it was that she could find Wrath faster than his technology, John and Ronon looked for where to aim. Teyla laid her hand on her holster but did not pull out her gun.  
  
A being appeared, though it took a second for the four of them to recognize it as a Wraith. His white hair was cut short into a chin-level bob and he sported what looked like a light-blue cotton shirt that reached his knees and white cotton pants.  
  
“Is it just me,” John asked out of the corner of his mouth, “or does it look like he’s washed his hair sometime in the past week?”  
  
“Do Wraith wash their hair?” Rodney asked, hiding from behind Ronon.  
  
Ronon’s index finger was already hooked around the trigger of his gun.  
  
The Wraith, some twenty meters away, raised both arms. “Welcome,” he shouted.  
  
“This is too weird,” Rodney said.  
  
None of the others said anything, tense and focused.  
  
The Wraith approached slowly, hands still raised. “I know our species are at war, but-- we do not fight.”  
  
Teyla started to relax, her hand moving away from her holster.  
  
The Wraith was now within speaking distance. He stopped there, as if to give them a comfortable barrier. “We’d like to set up an alliance with you. You--“ he looked at Teyla. “You can tell that I speak truthfully.”  
  
“Yes,” she said. “He believes what he says.”  
  
John waited, and waited, his gun still aimed at the Wraith, who did not flinch. Then, as if against his will, he hunched his shoulders down, then his arms. Finally, he said, “Put your gun down, Ronon.”  
  
Ronon frowned and started to protest, but with one glance from Teyla, he jammed his gun back into its holster. “Don’t need a gun to kill a Wraith, anyhow.”  
  
Teyla winced, but the Wraith smiled knowingly, as if he’d been expecting that.  
  
Weapons lowered, John said, “An alliance, huh. What do you mean by that, exactly?”  
  
“The usual,” the Wraith said. “Our Queen would like to establish trade between our communities, as well as forge military cooperation.”  
  
“That sounds promising,” Teyla said.   
  
“If you like,” the Wraith proposed, “we could give you a tour-- show you what we do.”  
  
“Let’s do that,” John agreed, despite Ronon’s warning glares.  
  
  
 **III.**  
  
“Why are we trusting them?” Ronon hissed to John. The four of them walked through the fields packed together, a few meters behind the Wraith.  
  
“Adventure,” John replied, voice low. He tapped on his radio; he’d had Rodney leave the Stargate open so that they could still communicate with the base. “Elizabeth?”  
  
“Yes, John? How’s the mission going?”  
  
“Not bad,” he said. “We’ve found Wraith who claim to be peaceful.”  
  
“What--?“  
  
“I’ll explain when we get back. But in case this backfires on us, have a back-up ready to help out, okay?”  
  
“I’ll send the Daedalus over,” she promised.  
  
“And a medical team,” Rodney fretted.  
  
“Be careful, alright, John?” Elizabeth said.  
  
“Aren’t we always?”  
  
  
 **IV.**  
  
“We’re quite busy, at the moment, with the harvest.”  
  
Row after row of Wraith, each with their own hairstyle and pants color-- they were topless-- methodically hacked at what seemed to be a distant cousin of wheat.  
  
“I’ve never heard of Wraith living off grains,” Rodney whispered. “All attempts to wean them off humans have _failed_ , and we all know how much Carson poured into the research. What have _they_ done?”  
  
The Wraith continued, oblivious to Rodney’s running commentary. “We also have a fruit orchard, but since it’s out of season, the trees do not look particularly impressive. They’re spectacular when in bloom, though. Perhaps you could return some day to see it; we hold grand festivals to celebrate.”  
  
Teyla, always keeping an eye out for potential allies, said, “Indeed, the plants here are beautiful. Do you trade with anyone else?”  
  
“No--” The Wraith smiled, though the four team members found it alarming; it was too inhuman to be anything but. “The other Wraith are not interested-- though we hope to convert them to our ways-- and the humans are too afraid of us. We mean to change that. We think that if we could spread our way of life, we could usher in an era of peace and prosperity.”  
  
The four of them looked at each other. Teyla finally replied with “T-- that would be nice.”  
  
“Wouldn’t it?”  
  
  
 **V.**   
  
In the center of all the fields lay a collection of buildings, varying in size but not style-- they all resembled the organic, web-like formations of the interior of Wraith ships.   
  
In the middle was the largest building of all, perfectly circular. The Wraith led them there, the other villagers keeping a distance but still watching the group. “This is our administrative center, where our Queen lives. She wishes to meet you.”  
  
John grimaced. “Terrific.”  
  
The interior felt like any Wraith ship they’d been on before, except that the hallways were slightly wider-- perhaps to accommodate the sculptures that lined either side.   
  
“What, they’re artists now?” Rodney asked.  
  
This time, the Wraith picked up on his words. “Now that we have abandoned the culling lifestyle,” he explained, “we have more time to dedicate to things besides hunting and worrying about our next meal. Some of us have dedicated ourselves to art.”  
  
He stopped before one sculpture. Composed of mud and the same web-like material as the building, it was bent and curved every which way. It was incomparable to anything else, except maybe pain and confusion. “This is my creation,” he said, proud.  
  
“Um,” John said, in an attempt at politeness.   
  
“It is very creative,” Teyla jumped in. “Does it symbolize something?”  
  
“Hunger. It’s how I used to feel, before we created this settlement.” Turning away, and walking down the corridor once more, “I am glad to have passed that.”  
  
  
 **VI**.  
  
When they entered, the Queen was discussing with other Wraith some computer readings and one of the many screen-maps around the chamber. Upon the team’s entrance, she exchanged a few last words with the Wraith and then dismissed them.  
  
“Welcome,” she said. In a flowing white dress and carefully swept hair, she seemed almost friendly. Her fangs, however, still poked out from between her lips, undoing any comforting impression she may have wished to convey.  
  
The four team members expressed greetings, some more verbose than others.   
  
“This is quite the establishment you have,” Teyla said, ignoring Ronon’s warning glare not to make nice with the Wraith Queen.  
  
“Yes,” the Queen said, “It is what I had envisioned, or the beginning of it, anyway.” The Wraith who had served as a tour guide nodded fervently.   
  
“What, you guys are trying to super-size?” John asked.  
  
“If I understand your meaning, that is one of our goals, yes. I’m sure Klepton has mentioned some other ones.”   
  
The team looked at each other for answers-- Klepton? Their tour guide cleared his throat. “That would be me; forgive me for being so rude as to not mention it.”  
  
“Wraiths have names?” Rodney asked and, realizing that he’d just stuck his foot into his mouth, “Um.”  
  
The Queen smiled, which was, again, more disturbing than anything else. “Do not worry; there is much we have to learn about each other. I believe we could much profit from an exchange of-- culture, if you will.”  
  
“And this would be one of your goals,” John said.  
  
“Exactly. And we believe you neo-Atlanteans would be the ideal group to help us achieve this.”  
  
“Great,” John stretched his mouth in a fake grin..   
  
  
**VII.**  
  
The team excused themselves by saying they needed to ‘clean up’ before dinner. (“It’s one of our traditions. Germs, don’t you know,” Rodney said, completely earnest.)  
  
“I’m having a hard time believing this, John,” Elizabeth said when John radioed her.  
  
“You’re not the only one,” Rodney said.  
  
“I have been reading them all along for their reactions,” Teyla said, “and they believe all of it. Elizabeth, I think this is an incredible opportunity, one that we cannot afford to miss. Imagine having _true_ Wraith allies.”  
  
“No chance that they’re, you know, tricking you?” Rodney asked.  
  
“None.”  
  
“Very well,” Elizabeth said, her voice crackling over the radio link, “Continue your investigation and, if need be, the Daedalus is there already.”  
  
“Alright, Sheppard out.”  
  
  
 **VIII.**  
  
The Queen sat them at a long table, with herself at the head and Klepton on her right side.  
  
“So what made you decide to change lifestyles?” Teyla asked.  
  
“Food was dwindling,” the Queen stated. Rodney jumped in his seat and John made a face. “And I tired of fighting other Wraith to feed my own. I then noticed that many humans have learned how to grow their own nutrition, abandoning the hunter-gatherer way of life. I’ve invested my entire colony on this experiment, and the results have been rewarding.”  
  
“What did you _do_?” Rodney asked. “One of our own doctors, he’s not so bad on his better says, has been trying to solve the Wraith problem for _years_ and still none of his research has come this close to succeeding. Of course, he’s never had the chance to study a live Wraith, but.”  
  
“It took us much research and time to perfect the technology for it. We are willing to share it with you, if you like,” the Queen said.  
  
“Seriously?” Rodney asked, jaw dropped, as if it were too good to be true.  
  
Several Wraith entered, carrying plates laden with vegetables and grains, which they placed before the Atlantis team. Rodney’s cheer turned into unveiled terror.  
  
Teyla forced herself to smile and tinkered with the food, pretending to eat it. She asked for specifics about the trading opportunities, distracting the Wraith from Rodney running the scanner over the meal.  
  
“What does it say?” John asked as discreetly as possible.  
  
“If I’m using the reader right, and, despite my brilliance, I might not be, seeing how it’s the first time I’ve used it, there’s no trace of the two thousand, three hundred and seventy-one poisons we _know_ of in the Pegasus galaxy,” Rodney said, with considerably less discretion than John.  
  
“You are not hungry?” the Queen, seeing that her guests were not eating. “Or do you fear what we have served you?”  
  
“It is not that,” Teyla assured her, “It is just that we are not accustomed to this food.”  
  
“Our humans like it,” Klepton remarked.  
  
All four of them looked at each other.  
  
“Your humans?” Teyla asked, politeness itself.  
  
  
 **IX.**   
  
After dinner, and before a theatrical performance entitled “The Hive Conspiracy,” Klepton took them on another tour. “I can’t believe I forgot to show you this,” he apologized. “When it’s key to our new way of life.”  
  
He opened the door.  
  
“Well, it’s very--“ Teyla stopped there. “Very,” she concluded.  
  
Behind her, Rodney was trying to keep from throwing up the meal he’d just gobbled down and Ronon and John were eyeing the room’s structure, already planning strategies.   
  
Hundreds of humans, all of them naked, lazed about the room, sitting and lying on the straw. Light streamed in between the wooden beams, otherwise, it was dark. Along the walls were trenches filled with water, where some humans were drinking and one teenager was sitting in it. The strangest thing of all were the noises, or rather the lack thereof: rustlings, coughs, but no voices.   
  
It smelled of straw, sweat, and feces.  
  
“We mean to improve their living conditions, of course,” Klepton said. “We believe that the happier they are, the more they’ll reproduce. Up until now we’ve been busy perfecting their genome and raising crops so that we can feed them, but it is one of our priorities.”  
  
Rodney took a break from gagging to ask, “The genome?”  
  
“These humans aren’t like you-- they’re genetically modified to have the intelligence of an insect. They feel nothing; they’re not even aware that they’re alive. It’s what you would call ‘cattle,’ I believe.”  
  
“I see,” John said, oddly calm, and, shaking his head, discouraged Ronon from attacking Klepton then and there.  
  
  
 **X.**  
  
“I told you we couldn’t trust them,” Ronon snarled. “Treating people like animals--“  
  
“But that’s what they are,” Teyla argued. “And I am the first to admit that I find… _that_ repulsive, but if it means that there’s a chance we can end the cullings--“   
  
“It’s fucked up,” John interrupted her. “Modified or no, those are _humans_.”  
  
“Are you certain about what you saw?” Elizabeth asked through the radio link.  
  
“I wouldn’t have puked that much otherwise,” Rodney said.  
  
There was a silence for a moment, as they waited for Elizabeth to reply. Finally, she said, “It’s a complete violation of the Geneva Codes; we can’t allow them to continue. And I don’t think they’d be up for negotiating giving up their new food source.”  
  
“Unlikely,” John agreed. “Look, I say we strike now-- they seem to trust us, god knows why, so they won’t be expecting an attack. And I _like_ having the element of surprise on my side.”   
  
“I want you to get all the humans out,” Elizabeth said.  
  
“We’re on it,” John promised. “They seem to trust us, god knows why, so it shouldn’t be hard.”  
  
  
 **XI.**  
  
The plan was simple: kill the Wraith, take the people.  
  
Overnight, the Daedalus made a few trips back and forth between the planet and Atlantis, beaming up the cattle-humans and taking them to safety. At first the Lanteans feared that they might be caught in this procedure, but it seemed that the Wraith’s security was even more lax than they had imagined; there were no sentinel guarding their ‘cattle.’  
  
Once the humans had been carried off to safety, it was time to attack.  
  
The Queen went down first. Ronon and John did it together and, before she died, she glared at them with the fury only a Wraith could summon. “I knew you humans were fools, but to prefer _war_ \--“   
  
After that, the four team members boarded the Daedalus, which then promptly destroyed the entire Wraith settlement with nuclear weapons. Overkill, perhaps, but better safe than sorry.  
  
Before blowing the place sky-high, Rodney insisted on ransacking their databases. “It’d be a shame to lose all that information,” he said reasonably.   
  
  
**XII.**  
  
After days of discussion on what to do with the humans, the Daedalus shipped them to Earth, where several governments had volunteered to take them on. No one in Atlantis asked what would happen to them.   
  
Nor did anyone press for information on who hacked into Atlantis’ files and stole the modified genome data.


End file.
